She shakes her head once. “Not in size, honey,” she whispers. “In a million different ways. But I’m not talking population, and you know it.”
I do know what she’s saying. I don’t say that, though. I’m not sure I want to admit it. Instead, I just nod a couple of times. “Let’s go inside before he starts knocking on my window or something,” I say.
“It’s going to be what it needs to be, in the end, that is,” Heidi says.
My smile curves up, almost as if it’s against my wishes, but I don’t try to stop it, either. “Yeah,” I agree.
Because she’s right. Forcing things never works. Just like I tried to force things with Axton before I left for Vegas all those years ago. And just like he’s trying to do the same to me now. It doesn’t work, and Heidi knows what she’s talking about.
It’s going to be what it needs to be in the end.
However that works. It’s going to play out the way it’s going to. And there is little a person can do to change that beyond pivoting and shifting trajectories in life—but at the end of the day, we must let the chips fall as they may.
Heidi and I make our way up to my apartment. I can hear Axton walking behind us, but I ignore him. At least I pretendto. I’m not sure anyone could ever actually ignore Axton. Even behind me, I can feel him. He takes up every ounce of space in the room.
PIGGY
I pissed Millie off good this time. I walk behind her and her friend, then slip into the apartment, locking the door behind me. I can tell by the expression Millie wears that she is trying very hard to ignore me… and it won’t last long.
“You ladies want a glass of wine or anything?” I ask.
They whip their heads around. Millie’s friend, Heidi, smiles. Millie frowns. My lips twitch into a smirk. I know Millie is forcing her pissed-off expression. It’s cute as fuck. Heidi takes a step toward me, just as Millie calls out that she’s taking a shower.
She stomps away dramatically, and then I hear the door slam closed behind her. Heidi laughs softly as she makes her way toward the kitchen. “I’ll have a glass of wine.”
I pull a glass out of the cabinet, unscrew the top of the bottle, and pour a glass for her. Wrapping my fingers around the stem, I gently push it out for her to take. I watch as her fingers curl around the base of the glass. My eyes don’t look away as she lifts the glass to her lips, taking a drink.
“You’re the infamous Axton Colter,” she murmurs over the rim.
Picking up my beer, I lift it to my lips and take a pull from the bottle, my gaze connected to hers. “I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not,” I state as I bring the bottle down.
She shrugs a shoulder. “We’ll find out, I’m sure.”
“You came all the way from Vegas,” I state.
It’s not a question. It’s a statement. But I still believe she’s going to respond, so I wait. And then she does speak, and I’m not sure how I feel about what she says.
“I did. My best friend needed me. Even if she didn’t ask me to come, she needed me here. Dante came sniffing around my place in Vegas looking for her, and when she said he had been spotted here, I knew it was time for me to come to her.”
“You didn’t think I could protect her?”
She smiles, though this time it doesn’t reach her eyes. “Oh, I’m sure you can physically protect her.”
“But?” I ask.
“Can you protect her heart?” she asks. “Will you?”
We stare at one another in silence. She’s right. I can’t protect her heart, and I’ll never make a promise that I can. Because that would be a fucking lie. And I’m not the man who can make blind promises of any kind.
“I can’t,” I admit. “As much as I want to lie and say that I can, that’s an impossible promise. I don’t know what the future holds.”
She takes another sip of her wine, her lips twitching into a smirk as her gaze searches mine. Then she clears her throat slightly before she speaks. “I can respect that. More than you know, actually.”
“No other questions?”
Heidi takes another sip of her wine, then sinks her teeth into her bottom lip before she shakes her head once. “Don’t get me wrong, I have a million questions, but they can all wait. This was the most important one.”
“And I passed?” I ask.
